Burroughs Mountain is located on the northeast slope of
Mount Rainier
Mount Rainier (), indigenously known as Tahoma, Tacoma, Tacobet, or təqʷubəʔ, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With a s ...
above Glacier
Basin. It was named for
John Burroughs
John Burroughs (April 3, 1837 – March 29, 1921) was an American naturalist and nature essayist, active in the conservation movement in the United States. The first of his essay collections was ''Wake-Robin'' in 1871.
In the words of his bio ...
, the naturalist, who visited the mountain
several times. The mountain was first called John Burroughs Mountain.
Burroughs was born near
Roxbury, New York
Roxbury is a town in Delaware County, New York, United States. The population was 2,247 at the 2020 census.2020 US Census, Roxbury, Delaware County, New York https://www.census.gov/search-results.html?searchType=web&cssp=SERP&q=Roxbury%20town,%2 ...
, in April 1837, and died in 1931.
He wrote extensively about his travels and was associated with the conservation movement. He became a well known "character" and is best
remembered for his "Nature Essay."
Burroughs Mountain is a high ridge formed from an ancient lava flow. Its three summit plateaus get progressively higher. The mountain, located within Mount Rainier National Park, is notable for
alpine tundra
Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated alpine climate, harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alp ...
, with plants typically seen at much higher latitudes. The tundra ground cover hugs the barren rocky plateau and has a short growing season because snow covers the ridge for much of the year in the harsh alpine climate. The unique fragile alpine tundra can be easily destroyed by people walking off the established trail.
The mountain is a popular hiking destination with grand close-up views of the
Emmons Glacier
Emmons Glacier is on the northeast flank of Mount Rainier, in Washington. At , it has the largest surface area of any glacier in the contiguous United States. The glacier was named after the geologist Samuel Franklin Emmons after his involvement i ...
Inter Glacier
The Inter Glacier or Interglacier is a small glacier on the northeast face of Mount Rainier in Washington. The body of ice has a volume of 0.6 billion feet3 (17 million m3) and covers an area of 0.3 mile2 (0.8 km2). The glacier lies on top o ...
,
Fryingpan Glacier
Fryingpan Glacier is on the eastern face of the Little Tahoma Peak, just to the east of Mount Rainier in the U.S. state of Washington. The glacier is located on top of a cliff from the Emmons Glacier to the north and a small ridge separates this ...
,
Little Tahoma Peak
Little Tahoma Peak, also called Little Tahoma, is a satellite peak of Mount Rainier in Pierce County, Washington and in Mount Rainier National Park. It is quite noticeable from Seattle over away.
Little Tahoma Peak is a volcanic remnant. It ...
, and views in all directions because most of the trail is above tree line. The trail starts at the Sunrise Historic District and loops up to First Burroughs Mountain (elevation 7160 feet) and Second Burroughs Mountain (elevation 7402 feet). Third Burroughs Mountain (7828 feet) is reached on an unofficial trail and is about another mile beyond Second Burroughs. The loop trail is about 6.2 miles and part of this loop trail includes a short section of the Wonderland Trail. Access is limited by snow closing the Sunrise Road much of the year, and even more by ice blocking the trail above Frozen Lake. July, August, and September are the months when the Sunrise Road is seasonally open for vehicle traffic.
Geology
Burroughs Mountain, situated at the northeast foot of Mount Rainier, WA, exposes a large-volume (3.4 km3) andesitic lava flow, up to 350 m thick and extending 11 km in length. Two sampling traverses from flow base to eroded top, over vertical sections of 245 and 300 m, show that the flow consists of a felsic lower unit (100 m thick) overlain sharply by a more mafic upper unit. The mafic upper unit is chemically zoned, becoming slightly more evolved upward; the lower unit is heterogeneous and unzoned. The lower unit is also more phenocryst-rich and locally contains inclusions of quenched basaltic andesitemagma that are absent from the upper unit. Widespread, gabbronorite-to-diorite inclusions may be fragments of shallow cumulates, exhumed from the Mount Rainier magmatic system.Origin and emplacement of the andesite of Burroughs Mountain, a zoned, large-volume lava flow at Mount Rainier, Washington, USA
Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research
By:
K.R. Stockstill, T.A. Vogel, and T.W. Sisson
Flora
Burroughs Mountain is renowned for its accessible variety of
alpine tundra
Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated alpine climate, harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alp ...
plants including sedges (
Cyperaceae
The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' w ...
Luetkea
''Luetkea'' is a genus of herbaceous plants in the family Rosaceae. One species is accepted. ''Luetkea pectinata'' (partridgefoot or luetkea) is a mat-forming semi-shrub. It is endemic to the cold portions of western North America occurring i ...
,
Antennaria
''Antennaria'' is a genus of dioecious perennial herbs in the family Asteraceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with a few species (''A. chilensis'', ''A. linearifolia'', ''A. sleumeri'') in temperate southern South A ...
,
Koenigia davisiae
''Koenigia davisiae'' is a flowering plant in the knotweed family that is known by the common names Davis' knotweed or Newberry knotweed.
Distribution
''Koenigia davisiae'' is native to the western United States from Washington, Oregon, and cen ...
Oreostemma alpigenum
''Oreostemma alpigenum'' (formerly ''Aster alpigenus'')Sierra Nevada Wildflowers, Karen Wiese, 2nd E., 2013, p. 206 is a perennial plant to subshrub in the family Asteraceae
The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over ...
American black bear
The American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), also called simply a black bear or sometimes a baribal, is a medium-sized bear endemic to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most widely distributed bear species. American black bear ...
(''Ursus americanus'') can be found lower on the mountain in Berkeley Park.
Climate
Burroughs Mountain is located in the marine west coast climate zone of western
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
.Beckey, Fred W. Cascade Alpine Guide, Climbing and High Routes. Seattle, WA: Mountaineers Books, 2008. Most weather fronts originate in the Pacific Ocean, and travel northeast toward the Cascade Mountains. As fronts approach, they are forced upward by the peaks of the Cascade Range, causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall onto the Cascades. As a result, the west side of the North Cascades experiences high precipitation, especially during the winter months in the form of snowfall. Due to its temperate climate and proximity to the Pacific Ocean, areas west of the Cascade Crest very rarely experience temperatures below or above . During winter months, weather is usually cloudy, but, due to high pressure systems over the Pacific Ocean that intensify during summer months, there is often little or no cloud cover during the summer. Because of maritime influence, snow tends to be wet and heavy, resulting in high avalanche danger.
Gallery
File:First Burroughs Mountain.jpg, ''First Burroughs Mountain''
File:Second Burroughs Mountain.jpg, ''Second Burroughs Mountain (seen from Skyscraper Mountain)''
File:Third Burroughs Mountain.jpg, ''Third Burroughs Mountain''
File:Burroughs Mountain (probably 1st) with snow looking west. 11976. slide (a1887698d8f1453db7085e0b081cd804).jpg, ''Burroughs Mountain from above''
File:First Burroughs mountain - Flickr - brewbooks.jpg, ''Top of First Burroughs Mountain view of Rainier''
File:Mount Rainier sea of clouds.jpg, ''Burroughs Mountain above sea of clouds''
File:Panoramic of Mount Rainier - Flickr - brewbooks.jpg, ''Panoramic of Mount Rainier from Second Burroughs''
File:Second Burroughs Mountain from Third Burroughs Mountain.jpg, Second Burroughs viewed from Third Burroughs
See also
*
Geography of Washington (state)
Washington is the northwesternmost state of the contiguous United States. It borders Idaho to the east, bounded mostly by the meridian running north from the confluence of the Snake River and Clearwater River (about 117°02'23" west), except f ...